There’s been a lot of speculation about the cost of Grand Theft Auto 6, with some companies hoping that it will debut at $100 to open the door for more games to drop at that price. The current ceiling for gaming prices appears to be $80, but Strauss Zelnick–the CEO of Rockstar Games’ parent company, Take-Two Interactive–doesn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about raising the price for GTA 6.
“I think our approach may be a little bit different,” replied Zelnick when asked about pricing GTA 6 at $80 during Take-Two’s August 7 investor call. “We believe that any consumer experience is the intersection of the thing itself and what you paid for the thing. So our goal is to vastly exceed expectations. We want to put out the best entertainment on Earth, and we want to deliver more value than what we charge for it. We think we’ve generally speaking, gotten that right.”
“Variable pricing has been the nature of this industry forever,” added Zelnick. “You know, most Frontline releases will go out at a higher price, sometimes with special editions, and then over time usually the price is discounted to optimize for the largest possible market. And I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon … The rubric that informs us is really that of delivering more value than what we charge.”
Earlier this week, Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliott laid out a similar argument about why it’s a bad idea to launch GTA 6 at $100. Elliot suggests that GTA Online is the real cash cow for the franchise, and Rockstar can’t risk alienating the players who have stayed with the game for well over a decade now. He also noted that a higher price point raises the risk of players sticking with GTA 5 over its much-anticipated sequel.
In other GTA news, former Rockstar employee–and longtime in-game DJ–Lazlow Jones recently revealed he’s unlikely to return for GTA 6. However, real-world musicians may still have a few radio stations of their own in the upcoming sequel.
Grand Theft Auto 6 will hit PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on May 26, 2026.
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